


Missing Brother

by Tory (Ejes)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Amnesia, Forgotten Memories, Friendship, Mystery, lost friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 18:09:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14170599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ejes/pseuds/Tory
Summary: When Sora found this boy in Traverse Town, there was no telling of who he really was. Sure, the face was familiar, but that didn't help much. Lea and Aqua were more than determined to help him remember his name, though...





	Missing Brother

“What is it, Pluto? Did you find something?”

The quiet of Traverse Town was disrupted by the dog’s barking in an alley. Sora slowly followed the King’s pet, looking around.

He loved Traverse Town. This was where it all began, in a way. Traverse Town, the city for those who were lost. For those with nowhere to go. That was where he met Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and so many others. When the world was asleep, he also met Neku and the others. He hoped they made it safely to Shibuya, their hometown. He had promised to visit them one day, too.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” He chuckled at Pluto’s impatience - the dog had came back, biting the bottom of his trousers to make him walk faster. What could be that urgent? There wasn’t a single Heartless around, so Sora guessed things were doing fairly well.

“Oh.” In this very same alley, a couple of years ago, he had woken up after his homeworld had been destroyed. And today, a boy with a very familiar face laid unconscious at the exact same place. Traverse Town, shelter for the lost souls, was sheltering a new inhabitant.

Pluto was licking the boy’s face, but he didn’t move. Sora kneeled by his side, gently shaking his shoulder. Nothing woke him up.

“How about we bring him to Master Yen Sid, then? He’ll know what to do!” Pluto barked, and Sora carefully picked the boy up. To think he’d been looking for him everywhere, only to find him here by coincidence… He didn’t know how that was possible, but for now, that question would have to wait.

 

The ascension of the many steps of the Mysterious Tower was quite challenging while carrying someone, but Sora was stronger than he used to be, and he finally made it to the top of the tower. When he pushed the door (with his foot, quite rudely, but he had no hand free), Kairi and Lea  were bickering about whose Keyblade looked better, while Master Yen Sid, Riku and Aqua were talking about something Master related. They all stopped and froze at the sight of Sora panting with a still body in his arms.

“Master Yen Sid, I think he needs your help.”

“I think he does indeed.” said the Old Master, his hand stroking his beard.

Aqua’s legs gave out, and Riku caught her before she’d fall. Lea’s face went all blank, and Kairi had to nudge him to remind him to breathe. For them, more than anyone, that blonde face was even beyond being familiar.

 

When the boy finally opened his eyes, a couple of days later, he was in a comfy bed in a room of Radiant Garden. Lea was slumped on a chair next to him, deeply asleep. Aqua was on the other side, her head on the mattress, a light snore sometimes escaping her. They were both holding one of his hands. He tried to sit up, and they both felt him moving, waking instantly. He stared at them with sleepy eyes.

“Hey.” Softly greeted Aqua with a delicate smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Is it morning already?” groaned Lea, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. “Oh. Hello there, buddy.” 

He looked at them both. Their faces reflected the exact same emotion : the perfect balance of relief and of worry. They were dying to press him with questions, but he had just woken up, and that would have been rude, so instead, Aqua simply asked.

“How are you feeling?”

He looked at her in silence for a moment. He looked so lost… Hard for Lea not to remember how  _ he  _ had looked that exact same way on his first days.

The boy looked around, his eyes stopping on every detail, every furniture. After scanning the whole room, he looked back at Lea, who sighed but didn’t lose his friendly smile.

“Let me guess: You want to know where we are? This is Radiant Garden castle. You are safe here. Sora found you in Traverse Town, brought you to Master Yen Sid, and in the end you ended up here.” If his mouth was still smiling, his eyes betrayed his hopes that any of these words would make the boy react.

“...Sora?” His first word, at last. Using this familiar voice, that made both Lea and Aqua squeeze his hands - perhaps a bit too tight on Lea’s side.

“Yes, Sora! I think everyone owes him a lot.” Chuckled Aqua, hey eyes shining. The boy didn’t answer.

And there was this question. The one they were both terrified to ask. An answer they hoped, an answer they dreaded. Finally, Lea was the one who gathered enough courage to ask him -  _ once again _ .

“Do you remember your name?”

“My name…”

They both held their breath. Both were expecting a certain name. Both were scared he’d say the other name. Who was he really? Which of them would see their sufferings fade away?

But the boy simply looked down. “Sorry.”

Aqua let out a relieved sighed, and felt guilty for it. She ruffled his hair softly.

“It’s okay. You just woke up. It will come back later. There’s no need to rush things out.”

“You’re awake!”

Sora’s cheerful voice interrupted them. The teenager, followed by Yen Sid, entered the room. “How are you doing?”

“I’m… fine.” The blonde boy whispered, as if slowly remembering how to put words together to form sentences.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to have a word with him.” Politely asked Yen Sid, in a tone that wouldn’t take no as an answer. Lea ruffled his own hair and grinned at the boy.

“Alright, we’ll see you later, then!”

“Take care.” Whispered Aqua, following Lea out. Yen Sid closed the door behind them, a polite but clear way of telling them the conversation would be private.

 

“Tch. Why can’t we stay? It’s not like they will discuss top secret things or anything.” Lea was sulking, sitting on a couch. Aqua was drinking a cup of tea on an armchair next to him, and sighed.

“I can get it, honestly. It can be overwhelming to be surrounded by too many people. Perhaps Master Yen Sid can use a bit of magic, with the help of Sora’s heart, to help him get his memories back faster. We would only make him nervous by standing there.”

“How can you be so optimistic all the time?”

“Well, someone’s gotta balance all that pessimism of yours.” She giggled. “And I’m just so happy we found him, no matter who he is. At least he’ll be safe here.”

“Oh, get real, Aqua.” Lea sighed. “I’m not stupid, and neither are you. We both are hoping  _ our _ best friend is the one in that bed. I’ve done all I could to bring Roxas back, including really stupid things. You’ve fought Darkness for over a decade and came back to save your friends. We both have dedicated the last years of our lives to our best friends. So don’t pretend you don’t care whether Ventus or Roxas is the one in that bed right now. You care. And I do too.”

Aqua drank her tea in silence for a moment. Lea was right. She didn’t know how she would have reacted if the teenager had said his name was Roxas. She would have felt happy for Lea, but sorrow would probably have eclipsed that happiness. She now understood how Terra had felt, when she passed the Mark of Mastery Exam and he had failed. Happy for her, but mortified for himself. And truth was, if a shady man appeared in front of her, telling her he knew a way to bring Ven back, at this very moment she might even be tempted to trust him.

“I’ve got an idea!” He clapped his hands, taking her out of her dark thoughts. “How about… We try to bring some memories back to him?”

“How?” His idea caught her attention. He grinned.

“Well, we could both spend a day with him, once he’s up, and try to take him to places he could recognize! Familiar places could bring some things back!”

“That sounds… Great. I wish I could have taken him to the Land of Departure, but that’s impossible, of course…”

“Tell me about it”, Lea scoffed. “It’s not like I can really bring him to the Castle That Never Was, being like  _ Hey, that’s Xemnas, you boss, remember him? Oh no, guys, don’t mind us, really! _ ”

Aqua giggled involuntarily. “Who should go first?” She asked. “If you want to, you can take the first…”

“No, no, that’s not how turns should be decided! That wouldn’t be fair! Let’s duel!”

She frowned. “A duel? I don’t really want to fight you, especially now, and especially for that.”

But he kept on grinning, and that was communicative. He showed her his palm.

“Who talked about a fight? A good old Paper-Scissors-Rock never hurt! Well, it can, Isa and I once played it with actual Paper, Scissors and Rock, and he threw the rock at me. Anyway. Let’s keep it safe. Three rounds, the winner goes first.”

“Fair enough!”

In the end, Lea won two rounds, and was nevertheless the first to go. All they had to do was to wait for the boy to feel better, now.

 

It took him two other days to get out of bed. And for these two days, neither Aqua or Lea really spent some time with him, leaving him under the care of the Destiny Island trio. No matter how childish it was, they both feared he would suddenly remember… being the other one’s best friend. 

Whether they liked it or not, they were in competition - a competition where they couldn’t do anything to change the odds.

The first day he got out of his room, they gave him some room for the whole day, letting him visit the castle, and have Sora and Yen Sid quickly sum up the current situation. He wasn’t talking much. At the end of the day, though, Lea sat next to him for dinner, and the boy smiled at him.

“Hey, buddy, how about I take you on a tour, tomorrow?”

“A tour?”

“Yeah, visit some other worlds! Aqua and I are thinking this might help you remember. That is, if you don’t mind, of course.”

“Sure. Let’s do this.” And Lea was glad his heart was back, because that smile really made it beat faster.

 

“Alright, are you ready for that day trip?” Lea cheered the next day as the boy was taking his breakfast.

“Where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise! But you will need to wear this, for a safe travel, though.” He handed the boy a black coat - they had been lucky enough to get their hands on a few of them, and that was a great help for when they weren’t travelling with the Gummi Ship - only Aqua refused to ever use the Corridors of Darkness, which Lea could quite understand, given how long she had spend there.

As soon as the boy put the coat on (it was slightly too big for him, but now he looked even more  _ Roxas _ ), Lea opened a portal. “Ready for our first stop, buddy?”

The boy stared at the portal with a clear apprehension, but nodded. “Let’s go.”

They both went through the corridor, quickly arriving in a brand new place. The air was salty, and the sun warm. There was something… invigorating about the whole place. Lea felt like he was fifteen again.

“What is this place?” The boy asked, looking everywhere around.

“This place is where I learnt what freedom really tasted like for the first time.”

The boy looked at him, curious.

“This is Neverland. I came here with Roxas, before. The first time we got here, he told me he could fly.” Lea chuckled, remembering it all too well. “But when he tried to show that to me, both of his feet remained anchor to the ground, and he looked so dumb, his eyes closed, focusing really hard! I couldn’t really believe him, although there was no reason for him to be lying. But it was so fun seeing him try so hard!”

Lea was now laughing at the memory. The boy, although not laughing, was at least smiling.

“That Roxas… He is the one you think I could be, right?”

“Yeah. He’s my best friend. We worked together for almost a year, before he… disappeared.”

The boy nodded, and when he looked at Lea again, his eyes were slightly sparkling.

“And in the end, did he succeed? Did he fly?”

Lea grinned. “He sure did. There was this pixie, Tinkerbell, who appeared and sprinkled some fairy dust on us… And we flew! That was amazing. This feeling of your body weighing nothing, of gravity losing its sense…”

“Uh, Lea?”

It was weird, hearing this voice calling him by that name. But he couldn’t introduce himself as Axel, that would have made everything much more complicated.

“What is it?”

The boy pointed something at their feet. And when Lea looked down, he realised what the boy was showing were his feet, who had left the dusty ground. He was flying.

“What the… I thought it worked only thanks to fairy dust!” He looked above his head, and saw Tinkerbell flying above him. She flew down, to the boy level. She smiled and waved at him, and covered him with dust as well before leaving. Lea laughed. He had come back here a few times, and Tinkerbell looked like she liked him.

“Ready to fly, buddy?”

“But, I don’t know how…”

Lea took his hand and darted to the sky. He could feel the weight of the boy at first, but he soon weighed nothing, and let go of his hand. They both were flying.

“This is… amazing.” The boy wore an ecstatic smile, and started flying everywhere, making loopings, grazing the water. He looked like he was having a lot of fun, and it warmed Lea up.

After a while, they both came down to the ground.

“Did it bring anything back?”

The boy was out of breathe, his nose a bit red due to the wind that was chilly high up.

“I think… I think this isn’t the first time I flew. I wish I could remember more, but… It feels like my body remembers. I’m sure I have flown before.”

There was no word to describe that feeling on Lea’s head. It was a really good sign.  That couldn’t prove that he really was Roxas, but that was still the beginning of something. All he could hope was that the rest of his programme would bring back more things.

“How about we go to our second stop, then? What do you say? Something relaxing, after all this flying.”

“Sure!”

He opened up another portal, taking them right to their next destination.

 

“Is this… A beach?”

The boy took a few hesitant steps on the sand. Lea didn’t, and crashed his body on it instead. The sand was all warm thanks to the sun, and the melody of the waves was soothing his worries.

“This place is called Destiny Island. This is where Sora, Riku and Kairi grew up.”

“Did you bring Roxas here too?”

Lea did his best to hide his bitter smile - and failed miserably.

“I wish I did. I promised we’d go to the beach, one day. But in the end… We never made it. I thought that perhaps bringing you here would make me feel like I stayed true to my words… But I guess it’s not the same.”

The boy sat next to him.

“I’m sure that one day, you will go together.”

“Yeah, the three of us, just like before…”

“Three?”

But Lea didn’t answer that question, staring at the clear blue sky. It wasn’t the first time he had the feeling that they were a trio. Every time he saw Sora, Riku and Kairi together, he had that feeling that they too were once three. But whenever he thought about it, he was getting a headache. Perhaps, just like this boy, some parts of his memories were gone, too.

Lea closed his eyes and dozed off for around twenty minutes. The sound of the waves lulled him, and when he opened his eyes, he felt a bit guilty having wasted some of his precious time. The boy had taken the coat off (given how hot it was, that was no surprise) and was sitting next to the water. He had taken some deep interest in colourful seashells, and it actually brought  _ Lea _ some memories back. Roxas had kept in his room many seashells, back at the Organization. And there was someone he gave some to…  _ Once a day, until she’d wake up _ . Who exactly was that memory referring to? The headache was back. Lea sighed.

The boy noticed he was awake and smiled at him. He put one of the seashells into his pocket, but he didn’t comment it - was he remembering anything, or did he just think it was pretty? There was no telling.

“There’s a third destination I’d like us to go. Somewhere nice.” That was his last card, and he knew it. The last chance.

“This is…”

“Welcome to Twilight Town. That’s my favourite place. I think it was Roxas’s too. We used to come here everyday after work.”

“And what did you do?”

Lea scoffed. “You will see. Follow me”. He took the boy to the top of the clock tower. “Here. Sit over there.”

“Isn’t it… dangerous?”

“Then be careful. I’ll be right back.”

He came back ten minutes later, a blue ice-cream in each hand. The boy was staring at the seashell once again, but quickly put it back into his pocket. Lea didn’t mention it.

“There you go! Sea-salt ice-cream while watching the sun set. That was was we used to do.”

The boy took the ice-cream and carefully put the tip of his tongue on it.

“It’s salty… but sweet, too.”

Lea gasped at the familiar words, then laughed to hide the pain. “Yeah, he said that, too. He was a bit like you, on his first week. A true zombie. But he slowly opened up. I guess it’s the time we shared here up here that made us best friends.” Lea sighed. “Anyway. I guess this wonderful ice-cream and this stunning view on the sunset doesn’t ring a bell, right? No worries, it’s alright.”

The boy stared at the horizon, slowly shaking his head.

“This isn’t the first time I eat ice-cream, I know that much. And I also know that they taste much better when shared with some friends. Thank you for making me remember this. It truly was delicious - and the view is amazing as well. It must have been wonderful to come here everyday after work. I don’t know if I am Roxas, but if I am… I’d like you to know that I probably cherished every single one of these times.” He gave a shy smile at Lea, who ruffled his hair. “I think that’s the nicest thing you could tell me, buddy. I think it’s time to call it a day. Let’s go back, shall we?”

He got up, opening up a portal behind them. But just before he could step into it, he heard the boy calling out his name.

“Did you say something?”

The boy was up, staring at his feet.

“I said I was sorry.”

“What for?”

“For not remembering. For possibly not being the one you are looking for. For possibly being the one you are looking for, and yet not remembering you. I had a lot of fun, today, and I’m sorry I don’t know whether I am Roxas or not, because after today, I really wish I could have you as my best friend.”

Lea dropped the facade smile, and before he even realised it, his body had moved on its own, throwing his arms around the boy.

“Lea?”

“Could we just pretend for a moment that you  _ are _ Roxas? Not too long, just a minute. I just miss him so much…”

The boy slowly put his arms around him too, hugging him tight. Lea wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard the boy whisper something. “I’m really sorry.” But it could have been his imagination.

The bell from the tower chiming actually brought Lea back to reality, and he let go of the boy.

“Hey, one more thing.”

The boy tilted his head. “Yes?”

“Could you…” Lea stroke his red hair, embarrassed. “Could you not mention that last part to Aqua? I… I mean… I don’t want her to…”

The boy chuckled. “No worries. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.” Lea said as he finally got through the portal. “Thanks for everything, buddy.”

The boy smiled. “I should be the one thanking you. Today was a lot of fun. Let’s do that again someday.”

Lea nodded, and they returned to Radiant Garden with a smile on their faces.

 

On the next day, Aqua was already there when the boy came into the room to have his breakfast. An almost empty cup of tea was in front of her, and she was absorbed in a book talking about magic. She didn’t notice him at first, and it was only when he let out a small cough that she saw he was there.

“Oh my, I’m sorry!  Have you been there long? Slept well?”

He smiled at her. “No worries. I had a good night, yes. What is your book about?”

“It talks about different ways to combine spells to make even more powerful ones! There are so many things I need to try out!” She closed her book. “But not today. Today, we are getting you to visit more worlds.”

She didn’t mention the fact that these  _ visits _ had for objective to bring his memories back, and he had the courtesy of not pointing that out either.

“What world will we be visiting first?” He looked genuinely excited, and Aqua could suppress her smile. It was probably a good thing he spent the day before with Lea - the guy knew how to warm anyone’s heart, and to make people at ease. Aqua had felt a little bit sad for him when she learnt the boy couldn’t remember anything - Lea had done his best to hide his sadness, but the simple fact that he wasn’t up yet was a sign that he wasn’t that alright.

“We are not even going that far for our first place.” She smiled and quickly finished her tea. “I am taking you… To Radiant Garden.”

He looked confused. “Isn’t this... this world?” She nodded.

“It is. You haven’t been outside the Castle yet, have you? There’s a bit of wind, but the city is always really peaceful in the morning. You will see, it is really pretty.”

He followed her through the Castle main door, a door so high she always wondered who exactly it had been made for. Lea often joked that this was for Ansem’s ego.

“What happened to the city?”

His question caught her off guard for a moment. She had spent so long here she was used to the ruins by now, and she forgot this was not how a city usually looked like. She sadly smiled.

“Darkness destroyed the whole place, and the world, some times ago. It was eventually restored - but with a lot of damages. There is a Restoration Committee working really hard to repair everything. The first time I came here, that place was full of colours and of life. And I am happy to see that this is coming back, one step at a time. Come on, over here.”

They walked through the town square, one of the places that was almost completely restored.

“This used to be a really beautiful place. There were flower beds over here, and here too. This is also probably one of the places I fought the most at.”

“Who did you fight?”

She clenched her fists. “The counterparts of my best friends. The first one was Vanitas. He was a freak, created out of the Darkness within Ventus’s heart.”

“Out of his heart?”

“Yes. There is a special Keyblade with such an ability. Vanitas was nothing but darkness and evil. We fought many times.  He created monsters made out of his emotions, and let me tell you, there wasn’t a good thing about them, or about him. Oh, there we are.”

They had arrived at the place Aqua, Terra and Ventus fought the Trinity Armour, a decade ago.

“This is where Ven, Terra and myself reunited for the first time since we left our home world, the Land of Departure.” She chuckled. “Ventus gave us both some tickets for a place called Disney Town. He was really embarrassed, because the one who gave him these tickets told him to give them to  _ two grown-ups _ . That was really sweet of him, and it’s true that at some times, it felt like he was our own kid, or at least our little brother.”

He smiled at her. “I can get why he’d see a maternal figure when looking at you, actually.”

She slightly blushed, looking away.

“What happened afterwards?” He quietly asked, as if expecting the dramatic outcome already. She sighed.

“We were stupid. All three of us. Ventus wanted to help us, and I got mad at him and told him to go home. I was worried for Terra, and he felt like I was spying on him, that I didn’t trust him. We were all tired and angry, and we split up. If only we didn’t… The next time I met them was also the last, on our final battle. All because we were all too stubborn to actually talk things out.” She did her best to fight the tears, but her voice was still trembling a lot. She gasped when she felt his hand take hers, but when he heard her gasp, he let her go right away.

“I’m sorry, you just looked so sad, I thought.. I shouldn’t have. My body moved on its own.”

She shook her head and smiled, taking back his hand. “Don’t apologize. It makes me really happy, you know. I felt like it would be too pushy of me to be the one taking your hand…” She chuckled, and he grinned.

“Then I’m not going to let go of it.”

Right now, he sounded and acted so much like Ventus.  _ Let’s pray this is a good omen _ , she thought, squeezing his hand into hers.

“I think it is time to go to our second destination.” She tensed at her own words, wishing they could have stayed here instead.

“Are we going to travel through a portal, just like with Lea? I don’t have the black coat he gave me yesterday. Should I go and get it back?”

“That won’t be necessary. I don’t travel through portals, for some reasons. Chip and Dale are going to be our pilots, we will be taking the Gummi Ship! This is a good occasion to have a look at space. The view is wonderful, you will love it.”

He followed her back to the back of the castle, where the spaceship was waiting for them.

 

He spent the whole trip with his nose on the window, gasping and making Oohs and Aahs here and there.

“Look, Aqua! Is this a world? It’s so tiny from here, it’s hard to imagine there are people really living in there!”

She tried to smile at his enthusiasm, but she couldn’t ignore the knots in her stomach.  _ It’s not too late to go back. To visit somewhere else. We could still pay a visit at Cinderella instead. _ But they had to go. If there was any place that could bring some memories back to him, that would be there.

 

They landed on an arid land. There was no living soul, only rocks and dust. The sun was hidden by the clouds, and yet it was extremely hot. The boy gave Aqua a worried look as they took their first steps outside. “What is this place?”

She didn’t answer right away. That was the first time she came back here since…  since that day. She fought her urge to run back to the Gummi Ship. Only when he took once again her hand in his did she realise she had not answered him.

“This place is called the Keyblade Graveyard. You will soon know why.”

She took him to the actual Graveyard. Thousands of Keyblades dug into the ground, marking the loss of countless lives.

“This world is where Ventus trained for a few years with Master Xehanort, before he came with us. This is also where Master Xehanort trained Vanitas, if I am not mistaken. And this is where…” Her voice broke, but she cleared up her throat and continued. “This is where we fought him. He was planning to create Kingdom Hearts, the Realm where all the Hearts go, and to forge the X-Blade, the ultimate version of the Keyblade.  He made sure the three of them would be there. Terra was meant to be his Vessel, a young and strong body to replace his old one. Ventus and Vanitas were meant to fight in order to forge the X-Blade. And I…” She closed her eyes. “I was meant to die. My death would have brought Terra to a nameless rage, making way for the Darkness within his heart.”

“But he failed, didn’t he?” The boy asked in a whisper, shivering. “You are still alive, so his plan failed?”

Aqua’s bottom lip quivered. “Yes, some parts of his plan failed, you are right. The X-Blade was forged, but I destroyed it. I think Ven’s heart helped in that too. But in the end, he still took possession of Terra.  _ He made me fight Terra _ . Ventus’s heart was so broken that he fell asleep and never woke up. And I ended up being trapped in the Realm of Darkness for a decade, all alone. His plan failed and Kingdom Hearts was never created, but our lives were still destroyed anyway.”

This time, she didn’t even have the strength to fight the tears back. She let them run freely on her cheeks, expressing her painful agony. He squeezed her hand really tight, and she noticed he was crying too. Was it because he felt sad for her, or because his heart remembered these events? She had no idea.

“Let’s leave this place, Aqua. I hate it here. I know you thought that it could help me, but you are obviously terrified of this place, and I’m not feeling good either. Come. Let’s go somewhere else. Somewhere that will make you happy.”

He almost dragged her back to the ship. Only when they stepped back inside and the door closed, she regained some composure.

“I’m sorry. That was stupid coming here. And I did ruin the mood, didn’t I? But no worries, our next world should make up for that.”

 

They soon landed in a very colourful place, with music, balloons, smiling faces all around.

“Welcome to Disney Town. I thought it would be a great way to end our day.”

They visited the whole town, and he wanted to try every activity. His cheerful face and his laughters quickly lifted her spirits up, helping her forget about the Keyblade Graveyard.

They tried the Kart Race, and Aqua was first until he understood how to use boosters - beating her at the very last second.

She took him for a game of Fruits Scatter - her favourite. But she probably had played a bit too much lately - she was pitiless and she didn’t beat him: she  _ almost humiliated _ him. He scored only one point. When the match stopped and she looked at the scores, she realised what happened.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry! I got driven away… I always play against Lea, and we always end up competing seriously… Excuse me…”

He was panting, and his eyes were shining. “Are you kidding me? That was  _ awesome _ ! Just how much did you train to be that good? Your moves are so swift and perfect, I need you to teach me that!”

Surprised, she let out a laugh, and he laughed with her. Ventus or not, he was really a lovely person, and Aqua could already feel that she loved him a lot. She felt a pinch in her heart.  _ Does that mean I’m somehow replacing Ven? No, of course not. I’m friend with Kairi, with Lea, with all the others and I never worried about that before. _

“All this sport made me really hungry! What would you think of an ice-cream?” She offered with a bright smile, to which he replied with an even brighter one “I would love an ice-cream!”

Huey, Dewey and Louie weren’t there, doing some business back in Radiant Garden, but a really kind Cow Lady sold them some colourful ice-cream. Aqua went for her favourite, the RoyalBerry, while he chose the Double Crunch. They sat on a bench to enjoy their treat.

“Want to taste mine?” She offered, and he took a spoonful of the raspberry ice-cream, wincing as he put it in his mouth.

“That’s so sour!”

She laughed. “I guess it takes a grown up to enjoy it, then.” She teased and he frowned. “Hey, that’s rude! Want to try this one? It’s super crunchy, I love it!”

She took one of the fruits in the cup, dipped it into the ice-cream before tasting it.

“You’re right, that’s delicious! Perhaps a bit too sweet for me, though.”

“I guess it takes some youth to enjoy it, then.” He mimicked her, before blowing her a raspberry. She gasped. “I’m still young! I would like you not to imply I am an old woman, thank you very much.”

In the end, they ended up laughing once again. She felt so light, and at the same time she couldn’t get out of her mind the idea that he might not be Ventus, and that was still a bit painful.

“I’ve had ice-cream with Lea yesterday as well.” He confessed. “A sea-salt one. It was delicious too.”

“To be honest with you, I haven’t tried it yet. He told me about it a lot, but I never had the occasion, I guess?”

“One thing is sure, I really love ice-cream. I could eat that all day long!”

Aqua chuckled. “That wouldn’t be really healthy. I’ll have to make sure you eat other things as well, such as vegetables. Too much sugar would be bad for you.”

“I hope that one day, we can all have ice-cream together. You, Lea, Sora and the others…” After a short silence, he added “with Terra and Ventus, or Roxas, too. That would be great.”

Aqua softly smiled, passing her arm around his shoulders to bring him back closer. She put a light kiss on his messy blonde hair.

“I know this is rude for Lea, but for a few minutes, I’d like to pretend you are Ventus.”

He closed his eyes, took her other hand and rested his head against her shoulder.

“You know, I would give anything to have grown up with someone as nice as you. I’m sorry I cannot be sure of who I am, I know that’s hurting you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

She chuckled and gave him another soft kiss on the forehead.

“You shouldn’t apologize for that. Even if you end up being Roxas, there is still room in my heart for another little brother, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

They stayed silent for a moment, his head on her shoulder, hers against his, hand in hand. The sun had started setting when they finally stood up.

“Would you mind… Not telling Lea about that last part? I feel he would feel it was a bit… unfair, perhaps.”

The teenager laughed, and she failed to see what could be that funny. He probably thought it was ridiculous to worry about that - but she still felt that hugging him had been a bit off limits, risking to influence him and to make him think that he might be Ven even though he wasn’t sure.

“I promise I won’t tell him.” He finally said once he had calmed down. She smiled, relieved, and they made their way to the Gummi Ship.

In the end, although some of his reactions might have been due to Ven’s heart reacting, there was no telling if he was him or not.

 

“Oh no, I’m not knocking, you are.”

“Stop being a child and knock, Lea. You’re an adult now.”

“You are technically older than me, you know. And it was your idea. You knock.”

It was the day that followed Aqua’s excursion with the boy, and both Lea and her were arguing in front of his closed door in low voices.

As if to cut down their argument, the door opened without any of them knocking. Sora, who opened it from the inside, stared at them with surprise.

“Lea? Aqua? What are you doing?”

“Uhm, we thought that…” Lea stopped, nudging Aqua who sighed.

“There is something we would like to tell him, actually.”

“To me?” The boy was sitting on an armchair, the one facing him being empty - Sora and him must have been in the middle of a chat when they overhead them arguing.

“Yes. May we come in?”

“Of course!  Please come on in!”

“Ladies first.” Smiled Lea, letting Aqua enter the room first. She glared at him. He was such a coward when it came to this kind of things.

“Listen, we are… We are truly sorry.”

Aqua bowed, and Lea did the same. They actually both bowed so low that it almost looked like a gymnastic stretching exercise more than anything.

“We both have been incredibly rude to you.” Said Lea. “We put a lot of pressure on you. We made you feel like you had to know who you were. Like who you used to be mattered more than who you are now.”

“You don’t have to be Ventus for me to love you and to treat you as a brother.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you are Roxas or not, I mean, that won’t stop me from eating tons of ice-creams with you anyway. If you’d like to, of course.”

The boy smiled and got up, his eyes full of tears. He took Aqua’s hand in his right one, and Lea’s on his left one.

“I don’t know if I am Ventus. I don’t know if I am Roxas. All I know is I had a wonderful time with both of you, and you both deserve equally to find your missing friends. I suppose I’m one one them, but for now, I am neither. I’m me, nobody else.”

Lea and Aqua smiled and pulled him into an embrace.

“And that’s all that matters.” They whispered at the same time.

**Author's Note:**

> Who he is is up to you. Either way, it is still heartbreaking, isn't it? Let's all pray for both of them to be saved in KH3.


End file.
